Federal Grants for Women Writers

Federal Grants for Women Writers

If you're going fishing for dollars, you might as well start with the biggest pond around: the federal government. The natural place to start is NEA, the National Endowment for the Arts. These guys can cut checks in the five-figure order, making it an all but mandatory part of your journey. Check out their Web site to see what you can apply for, but be aware that competition can be fierce.

If you're planning to write something educational or that can be perceived as having humanitarian benefits, you should also check in with NEH, the National Endowment for the Humanities. Have a good angle for raising awareness of women's issues in society? Planning an in-depth study of historical patterns in the female workforce? Whatever your project, female-specific or not, this is another big pond with potentially fat fish just waiting to be snapped up by a writer like you.

While not quite as broad, you can also check NPS, the National Park Service, if you're doing anything related to the outdoors. Even the State Department has been known to loosen the purse strings from time to time if you can find just the right angle. Again, visit the Web sites linked above and see how if your project might fit the bill.

Other Places to Look for Grants

Uncle Sam isn't the only game in town when looking for grants. Your state may have a few dollars rattling around in some half-forsaken coffer that doesn't have nearly the kind of competition NEA, NEH or the others have. Why not make a reach-out effort and relieve them of their orphaned status? Check your state's official Web site and prepare to do some digging; some are very good at hiding this information. But, that only means there are fewer competitors applying for the grants.

Foundations and non-profits can be a pain to research, but you may luck out and fit the bill perfectly while almost no one else does. Suppose some eccentric millionaire created a $10,000 foundation for "Previously unpublished women writers with at least two children living in El Paso, Tex. looking to write about the civil war era". If you stumble across this particular footnote and happen to fit the requirements, what do you think the odds of landing the grant are?

Non-profits are less subject to some rich person's random preferences, but they can dole out surprisingly large checks if your project happens to fall in line with the work of the non-profit. So if you're writing about particularly brave German Shepherds in history, it may be worthwhile to check the animal non-profits in general and German Shepherd-related organizations in particular.

How To Apply

As a rule, you'll be notified of any special requirements upfront, like if you need to provide proof of residency or previously published material. Beyond that, it's a matter of crafting a polite, concise application letter stating why you and your project are the ideal recipients for the grant in question.

Whether you're applying for federal grants for women writers or just any grant, keep it clear and proof read it many, many times -- this is not the time to slap something together in five minutes with typos and poor grammar. With luck, you'll come across as a professional candidate able to deliver on your ambitious project, which may be just what the committee in the other end needs for cracking the coffer lid. Good luck!